Long Forgotten
by rhonderoo
Summary: Long forgotten moments for each of the Skywalker of family.
1. Faeries

_Disclaimer: George Lucas owns these characters. I just love them and write about them._

**Character(s): Leia Organa, Bail Organa  
Period: Inter-trilogy, post-ROTJ  
Genre: Angst, Drama  
Summary: Leia reflects on learning she is adopted.**

**Long Forgotten** **– Leia**

I remember the first time my adopted father spoke of my real parents. I had just passed my eighth Naming Day. My mother was sick. That is, my adopted mother was sick. Mother, or Lady Organa as the citizens of Aldera called her, was sleeping finally, her will beginning to succumb to illness. The illness that struck so suddenly the day that I celebrated with friends and selfishly sulked that I didn't get the speeder bike that I had wanted. A speeder bike. This was the most heinous of ills to befall anyone in my young mind.

Little did I know that my world would soon tilt and right itself again. When it did, I wouldn't be Leia Organa, daughter of the Prince of Alderaan, an heir to the patience of my father and the delicacy of my mother. I would be Leia... who? Just Leia, some wild Halfling dropped off on the doorstep of the palace, an imposter. _No wonder she has such a bad temper_, my aunts would whisper behind their hands. _Such a shame. How very patient and good of the teachers to teach her civility. Taming of the spirit, that's what this one needs._

My father had come to my room, his face ashen. I knew when I looked at him that our world would soon change. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the stillness of truth waited. The faerie queen that was my mother, would go back to the heavens. My father, the stoic man who held the galaxy together while the politicians and the Emperor tried their best to rend it apart, would never be the same. He sat on the edge of my bed and pulled a small box from under his overcoat.

"I am sorry that you heard my conversation with the physician, Leia." He raised his eyes to mine. "I know you heard that the sickness is passed on through children, and that you ran because you were frightened."

I looked at my father, shamed that he had caught the selfishness of my action. I should have thought of my mother. I had deduced my own impending death, from the sudden illness that would steal my mother, but I didn't have to worry...not then, not ever.

My father sighed wearily. I watched as he struggled with words, my heart breaking, for my father was an eloquent person, especially to my eight-year-old ears. Words were his life, he kept the citizens of Alderaan safe with his words. It frightened me that he could find none, for this would certainly mean the end of our world.

"I have something I'd like to show you, but you must never show this to anyone or speak of it. You are old enough to keep this just in here." He touched his finger to my forehead.

He opened the box and took out a small holopic, activating it with a flick. A young couple smiled into the projector. She an impish, exotic pixie with long, curling dark hair and an exquisite face. He a striking warrior, tall and handsome, with blond, rakish hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen. They were Luke's eyes, I just didn't know it at the time.

The holo looked like it had been taken at one of the vacation spots on Alderaan, but the flowers were wrong. The couple smiled into each others eyes, their clasped hands locked as if either were to let go, the other would float away with the sparkling lake in the background. My droids stood beside them, posing for the holocamera.

I looked at that couple and I knew my mother's sickness was not to be mine. My parents were not my parents. A photograph of an attractive couple brought the truth. 

"What happened to them?" _Where did they go? Why did they leave me? What was wrong with me?_ I asked the question, but knew even then deep in my child's heart that there was no answer. 

"They are gone," my father answered. The finality of his tone confirmed that this was all I would know of them. He looked past me then, his eyes faraway. "They died long ago."

He leaned and gathered me to him, the sadness of the day and the weariness of his soul enveloping us in numbing miasma. "I want you to know that your mother and I love you just as much as those two did, maybe more. You came to us when there was no hope, my Leia. You've brought happiness to us, and you are our daughter. This will never change. I only tell you this, so that you'll not fear the illness that has claimed your mother. I will always be here for you, and your mother will never be far away. As long as you carry her here...", he laid his hands on my little girl's heart, tucking my faerie queen mother there forever. He rose slowly from the bed, and kissed me goodnight.

My mother passed away the next morning. 

For years after my mother's passing I wondered of the couple in the holo. _How had they died?_ I dreamed of the woman, my real mother, occasionally, whispered words of encouragement, or a tinkling laugh, her face familiar and knowing. Smiling, yet sad. Sometimes she ran through a field of wildflowers, ribbons trailing from behind. Sometimes she looked solemnly through a viewport, her face painted in the colors of the theatre, a china doll bought for a child at festival.

The man in the holo was a mystery. Did he laugh with Luke in dreams? Did he whisper of starships and adventure to my brother? He never came to me in dreams, never gave me flashes of a smile, or a glimpse of laughing eyes. He hid himself from me, like the rest of the galaxy. He disappeared as if he were never there. It made me wonder if he was a wizard prince, from the old stories told to Alderaanian children. They were handsome and beguiling, appearing to lure you into the fields to create mischief, their grandness too exaggerated to be real. He had that look about him.

Sometimes I would wonder if they both were ever really, truly alive. There were no more records of the two. The holo was later destroyed with my planet and my youth.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I sit now in my office thinking of that couple today. The feeling of sadness that was always buried in my subconscious, the weight of it, explained on the flimsiplast pages in front of me. The fruits of the investigator's labor laying at my fingertips. Luke's record checks had mostly been in vain, and we have been fine for years now. A family, with children of our own. I almost laugh at the sheer oddity of getting these from the Empire now, when we have made peace. When I have made peace. I have already come to accept whatever story my real parents would tell me in the afterlife. I would never have dreamed facts from the Emperor's files would turn up this late in our life.

The pages are vile, the truth too horrible to imagine. The death of my mother, the details of her planet's enslavement to the Empire. My mother watching as her children are taken from her, the destruction of her family. The science and schematics of how Vader had been born. The partial lobotomy of my father, the living nine hells of not being able to catch enough breath, the agony that must have been his as he was being brought back to life. The escape of death just beyond his fingertips everyday he that lived on. Anakin lost, and the painful reminder of the suit. All this in plain facts on the pages before me. I wonder why the galaxy decreed that this pair must bear the weight of this? Were they ever supposed to be happy? Had my father really been the monster I had first made him out to be? Where do Luke and I fit in all of this?

I put the flimsiplast in the drawer of my desk and sit with my head in my hands. A headache skirting the fringes of my tolerability. I will have to share this with Luke I'm sure, although part of me wants to protect him. I laugh to myself. He is a Jedi Master. He never saw some of the horrors that Palpatine subjected the galaxy to, but he has his own burden of memory.

My brother and I will talk of this soon, but for now, I'll deal with these newfound pieces of the puzzle myself. For the first time I think of the couple in the picture and fervently hope that they are at peace, that someday Luke and I will see them again, _both of them._ A certain peace settles in my heart and I know that Luke and I are special, that we are here for a reason, and the galaxy is better for it.


	2. At the End

**Long Forgotten** – **At The End**

Character(s): Leia Organa Solo, Luke Skywalker  
Period: ROTJ  
Genre: Angst, Drama  
Summary: Luke remembers his father's death

"Do you remember father's last words?"

It is with more than mild surprise that I look up from the datapad I've been tapping. My sister had been curious of the events above Endor and had gotten debriefed several times over the years. I always stop short of reliving the moments in emotional play-by-plays, as she holds herself back from the story, not letting it touch her fully. This way she can stand back and hear in a military fashion the events that effectively ended the Empire. Dutiful and strong.

My sister is very practical, and her dedication is her anchor. It is also her shield. Leia keeps many things at arms length, afraid that if she lets it in it will break her. And if she breaks, we'll all break. She's just that strong, or she tries to be. I catch her sometimes though, looking out of a viewport, eyes far away. A moment of weakness washing over her. A moment where she isn't the one holding the galaxy up on her small shoulders. There have been more of those moments as we have gotten older. She's learning to prioritize more, let the Force guide her. Her family is her real strength. Han is the best thing that ever happened to her, and her children show her that life goes on, and that one day the galaxy will have to survive without us. I'm thankful for my own wife and child, Mara and Ben make me see more than ever that family is what's real, our blood holds us together and makes us strong. It will be there in our children when we die as it was when we were born. Wherever we were born.

"What do you mean by 'last words'?"

I'm not going to get conned into one of these conversations again. We've been here before, and I end up being "naive" and more than a little "too trusting". I don't say this in a bad way, as my sister and I have a special relationship, we can be honest with each other. Besides our spouses, we are as close as two people can be. Leia is protective of my more "trusting" instincts and I look over her downright stubborn nature most times.

She looks at me with the look that had probably brought diplomats to stuttering conformity on more than one occasion. "I mean... what was our father's last words?"

I just look at her, sometimes she is almost as a big an enigma as my wife. _I want to know everything... No! Don't tell me anything! I don't want to know._

"Tell your sister you were right about me." I speak the words a flatly as I can muster, the beginnings of memory brought back. I look at her expectantly. _So, there. That's what he said._

It's been a while since I've turned those events over in my mind. There was a time that they lay there right under my consciousness, touching the top. Making sure that I remembered what I had accomplished that day. What Obi-Wan and Yoda could not, maybe even what my mother could not. Certainly what my father, Anakin, could not. I got through a barrier that no one had touched in over twenty years, and it cost my father his life. He gave it up willingly. I always make sure to tell Leia this when I tell her this story. We've never gotten to the point where our father's last words are spoken between us. The duel and events leading up to it are all she knows. Words that cut more than a vibroblade. As long as its taken, today brings us to a new level as brother and sister.

I watch her carefully. She seems to be more open to a conversation I had long ago given up having with her. Her face is open and inquisitive. Sighing she turns to me and I can tell she has given up the fight. I don't know what has prompted her in her quest to know the details of mine and my father's trial above Endor, but she seems at peace with the decision to know everything.

"So tell me, once the lightning stopped, what happened?"

"He fell to the floor." I look at her, my expression masked with boredom. The illusion of speaking of the latest episode of a popular holodrama, or the weather on Tatooine. She knows better though. We have a special bond. Her look softens. I am not fooling her in the least.

"He fell to the floor, and I somehow found the strength to get to him." I'm suddenly reminded of the smell of burnt circuitry and leather. My father's breath dwindling to poorly drawn wheezes. He doesn't look as big as he did when he stood before me, blade drawn. Suddenly his shoulders are those of a man, not of a machine, hunched forward in pain.

"What happened then?" Leia's voice pulls me back to the present, before I get lost in something I haven't felt in years.

"I took his arm and hauled him to his feet." I bet we would have looked absurd to an onlooker as we were trying to escape. My father stood a foot taller than me. "He couldn't really stand, I'm not sure the suit was working that well."

"Did you get him far?" she asks, patiently waiting for the rest of the story.

"We made it to the hanger, but the suit didn't last but a few more minutes after that." I didn't remember the sounds around me, now the blaring horns slowly register through the fog of my memory.

"We had just made it to the ramp of the shuttle when he fell, lights going off on the chest plate of his suit. He wanted help with taking the mask off, so that he could see my face, and I argued that he would die. He told me there was no stopping that now. "

Surprisingly Leia blanches at this part of my memory, it all becoming too real.

"Once the mask was off, he told me to leave him, and I told him 'No'. I don't know how I thought he could survive, I had seen the lightning lighting up his skeletal system. He had been hit with a barrage that was ten times more lethal than I had been. My opinion is that father paid for some of his transgressions with that last bit of lightening, it was horrible." Leia winces, she takes my word on how painful Sith lightning is, as she says she never plans to find out for herself.

I continue, too far in the story to stop now. I can almost feel my father over my shoulder, waiting expectantly. Hoping that I remember that he did love me in the end, and that he loves my sister. "In the end, he told me that I had saved him and to make sure I tell you. You were the last thing on his mind. After that, he didn't seem to worry about where he was going or the fact that he was dying, he just wanted me to go, to get away to safety." I take a deep breath, relief that the story is finally told. These words locked in me for so many years, not for anyone's ears but my sister's.

She's looking out the viewport again, an unreadable expression on her face. Sadness and acceptance all in one. "I understand some of what you have always said about family, Luke. Han and the kids have shown me that. You've become the anchor of our family that our parents could not be, the position that was taken from them so long ago, and I'm sure they are very, very proud of you." She looks over at me, savagely fighting tears, because my sister does not cry. "You know I'm the oldest though, right?" We laugh, its funny to think that we were there for each other in the beginning. In a dreamlike time when all we had were each other.

I put my arm around her shoulders and she puts her hand on mine. We've come a long way since I broke into a Death Star prison cell in ill-fitting storm trooper armor. I reach over and kiss her cheek. "I love you, sis."

"I love you too, Luke."


	3. Voices of the Dead

**Long Forgotten** – Voices of the Dead

**Character(s): Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Owen and Beru Lars  
Period: Pre-ANH/Post ROTJ  
Genre: Drama  
Summary: Luke Skywalker's thoughts on growing up on Tatooine, his care-taker, his family and his heritage.**

There is a saying on Tatooine, an old proverb that says... _"an invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." _

When I was younger my life was spent wanting off of that ball of sand so bad that I could taste it. Looking back now, years later, much of my life spent away from my home planet, I realize something about the planet farthest from the bright spot in the Universe. Tatooine is a spiritual place. Maybe not by the standards of Alderaan or Yavin, but a place where the Force dwells nonetheless, maybe even where the Force first made itself known. If I close my eyes, I can feel it, cold and clear at night, hearths glowing, banthas lowing, the force humming around you after the suns set.

My father started his life on Tatooine. My aunt and uncle ended their lives there, much too early. Funny, they never wanted to get away. They were perfectly happy with living out their lives under Tatoo I and Tatoo II, worn and weary, but all the stronger for it. Not everyone survives my home planet, but those who do know that it is never an easy place.

My planet breeds pilots, moisture farmers, podracers...and heroes. It breeds Sith Lords and Jedi. Sometimes moisture farmers are heroes and sometimes Sith Lords turn out to be heroes. I try every day to honor those that have come before me, those that gave their life for me, and those that raised me. Our loved ones smile back at us on the faces of our children. They wink at us over a stuffed Ewok, testing us with their tenacity. My son could never be stubborn, not ever; it's just not in his genetic makeup.

My seventh Naming Day, I woke up early, earlier than was usual on the farm. My uncle was always up with the suns, but this morning I woke first. Excitement bearing down on me, the day would soon begin and it would be all mine. I never knew the details surrounding my birth, but I knew that I had come to Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen on this day seven years ago. We celebrated each year. My aunt laughed as I ran around the table, patience her constant companion. It had to be, I was her charge. I was eager for my Naming Day treats, the warm pallie tarts, rock candy, and some trinkets that Uncle Owen picked up on his last trip to Mos Eisley.

Later that night as Aunt Beru was tucking me in, I asked the question I had asked so many times before. A routine that Aunt Beru and I shared. "If my father was alive right now, what do you think he'd be doing?"

She looked at me with the look she always saved just for me. "Why, he would be tucking you into bed," she said with a smile, her eyes softening.

"Aunt Beru," I sighed exasperatedly. "What would he really be doing? Tucking me into bed is too boring."

"I don't think he would find it boring at all, Luke. He would have enjoyed watching you go to sleep," she said.

Her face held the expression that I now recognize as regret. My aunt was the rock our tiny family was built on. My uncle said that she reminded him of my grandmother - soft and gentle, but strong and reliable. A dichotomy of traits all wrapped up into one.

Warmth spreads through me at the memory now, all these years later. Today is my Naming Day, and with it comes bittersweet memories, not mine or my sisters, but those passed on to us by rite of birth. The Force must know that we are strong enough now, that we can deal with the news of Palpatine's manipulations of my parents' lives, and the galaxy.

I stand out on the balcony that adjoins our sleeping quarters. My wife is sleeping soundly in our living area. She will curse herself...and me, for letting her watch the silly holodrama so late. I've just put Ben in his crib. I can hear his soft breathing in the background, music to my ears. He has my eyes and my father's eyes. Sometimes, just for a second, I can see a flash of him in my son, when I least expect it. This is what I had always hoped for, family around me and my roots firmly planted – always knowing exactly who I was.

Leia worried for me in the beginning, when I chased our past out of some desperate need to BE someone, to have a history - a heritage. I didn't know it then, and perhaps she didn't either, but I think somewhere deep down in her infinite wisdom, she knew that when you stop looking, stop chasing the past and just...settle down, when you are right in your own world, the Force will bring you what you need. It will bring your family to you. Sometimes it may not be your blood relatives; family comes in all sizes and shapes. Leia and I were lucky enough to find each other. And now, we've found our parents, their story coming to us on the heels of a war that made us forget the past bitterness by replacing it with something far worse. The Force truly does work in mysterious ways.

When Leia and I opened the trunks and crates brought to us by Palleon, we hardly knew what to expect. After all, our family is nothing if it's not exciting. Our minds swirled with possibilities - of codes, governmental literature or propaganda, weapons, manuals...

What we found were the inane items of a married couple. Items that would be considered trivial – a Jedi robe, boots, a belt, a necklace, and various holos of them and of simple landscapes that had been the background of their life together. There weren't a lot of things; you could tell the time had been scarce, but valuable. Each item we picked up had a story. I watched as my sister's shell cracked before my eyes, the years of being strong for me finally getting the best of her. She had longed for closure as long as I had, she just didn't let it show. My sister is no stranger to heartbreak.

We went through the documents and found everything, even the things that were better off forgotten, for there was nothing we could do now. Palpatine was long gone, tossed down a reactor shaft before I would be able to thank him properly for half of the crimes he perpetrated against my parents. And that is a good thing.

So I stand here on my Naming Day night, my real Naming Day, and for probably the first time in 30 years feel at absolute peace with the heritage that Leia and I share, with our place in the galaxy. When I think of the people who have sacrificed for us, it is always with an overwhelming sense of awe. For those that believed our lives more important than theirs live on - through our children and through us. We hope we haven't let them down.


	4. Anakin's Last Act

**Long Forgotten – Darth Vader**

Character(s): Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi  
Period: post - ROTS  
Genre: Angst, Drama, AU  
Summary: The newly appointed Sith Lord, Darth Vader stops a ship with an interesting passenger.

Looking out a viewport, one cannot help but be awed by the stars. The vastness is overwhelming. As I watch the fleet, I am reminded of the Empire's immensity, its domain reaching from the Outer Rim to the Corporate Sector; its order and control thriving since the fall of the Republic. The pockets of sedition will be crushed soon, and we will acquire peace at last. The outer worlds hold the downfall of the Alliance and as we make the journey, I cannot help but be restless. My blood is calling to me.

We are in the outer-rim. I despise it. Many of the planets of this region hold nothing but vile memories, but as the blue glow of the atmosphere of Tatooine comes into sight, I find myself unable to move away from the viewport. 

Here...is where I left the last memory of the weakling Anakin Skywalker.

_What is he doing right now?_

I reach out with the Force, hoping.... But there is nothing. It is only me...and this wretched suit. It has been a long time since I allowed myself such whimsy. The planet is an unwanted reminder of what was, and what might have been. It has been easier than I once thought, to let the past go. The dark side cares little for memories. 

Still, there are times when the memory of that night long ago assails me in my weaker, more inadequate moments. Not for long, for the events that precede them are forever seared on my body, and I have no desire to revisit them. They are memories of pain, betrayal and failing.

xxxxxxxxxxx

_"What are you going to do," Kenobi asked. "Kill us?"_

His eyes were wide with fear and he was visibly shaking. In his arms, clutched tightly to him was a bundle. An alarm went off in my head as a familiar, yet unfamiliar presence in the Force assailed me. It was not my old master's presence, it was a combination of mine and....

It was then that I knew...

The Emperor had told me of Padme's death, but he did not have to. I knew when I awoke in the suit, unaccustomed to the breathing apparatus and praying for death, that she was gone. Naturally, our child would have perished with her, my brain registered through the sounds of my screams. What a fitting way to end everything. There was nothing more. The best I could hope was to die from my own wounds, or live to make the Jedi pay for every transgression rained down on me in my previous life. Most of all, it was a fitting end for Anakin, as his failing was the most heinous of all. He had sworn himself to protect his family and failed...yet again. _Pitiful._

But the situation that was before me had never been contemplated. My child lived, and Kenobi held him in his arms. As if to prove his existence, the child started screaming and Obi-Wan moved for the hatch of the ship. What for, I do not know. He knew he was surrounded, even though I had closed the hatch as I entered. My weapon already drawn, I stepped closer by one step, unsure of my next move.

"I should kill you where you stand," I said, the unfamiliar voice rumbling through the vocoder. "You have betrayed me for the last time." For the first time I could hear my own heart in the suit. It pounded out each second we stood there, drawing out time, maybe even stopping time. I could tell no longer. This man had been the bane of my existence for years, I once thought him a friend. Now...every breath that passed through the machine reminded me of the hatred I felt for Obi-Wan, my _brother_. He stood with the last thing left of me in his arms.

Kenobi swallowed and turned the bundle towards me with one arm, his right hand moving cautiously to his lightsaber hilt. There was no doubt that he would die saving the child, _my child._ My son became quiet as I looked into his eyes. There were so many questions that I yearned to ask. _Where was Padme now? Had they returned her to Naboo? Was she at peace at last?_

I drug myself from the abyss; I had almost given quarter to that part of me that was dead. _Not dead. _

Quickly, I drew my saber back to my side and assessed the situation. We were in the Dagobah system.

"The Emperor must never find him. I have a brother, Owen Lars, who lives on the outskirts of Mos Eisley. You will take him there and then you will disappear. If I find you again, I will kill you."

My former Master looked at me incredulously. "Do you think for one second that I trust you? I will not let you destroy this child. I will do what I must, and you need not fear, the Emperor will never know of him," he sneered.

My patience coming to an end, I drew my lightsaber again. "Do not make me destroy you. You show yourself to be a fool yet again. You have no choice in this matter. If I wished to find him, I would," I proclaimed. I began to fear that the child would be seen by the stormtroopers. Kenobi must have sensed the same thing, as he peered around me to feel for them through the force.

The air stagnated around us as the baby began to cry again. I laid a gloved hand on the baby's forehead, and he quieted immediately. I turned to leave, and returned to take one last look. I then looked to the Jedi, my eyes behind the lenses burning into Kenobi's.

"Do not fail in this and never return to the Core. If you do, I will take possession of what is mine." I turned and stalked out of the hull of the ship, leaving my former Master behind me. He still clung to the ideals of the Jedi. I knew he would do what he must to take care of the child, however much I hated him.  
I took care of the troop that had been on my shuttle, leaving no witnesses. I then turned for the shuttle and my destiny. It was the last time I saw Kenobi and _my son._

xxxxxxxxx

The sand of Tatooine is a patchwork of browns as I stare out of the viewport, still held immobilized. I cannot help but think that somewhere down there, where my youth is buried, that my son waits for me. He waits for me to come and together we will claim our destinies. But not today...


End file.
